Small Business Trends

PocketSmith: Financial Forecasting for Small Business

Product ReviewsNovember 9, 2009By TJ McCue

PocketSmith is a new web-based financial tool to help you predict cashflow.  Currently, the service is designed for individuals, but with just a bit of creative thought, small business owners can see how it will help them manage and forecast cashflow needs.

The software service takes a unique approach to financial information: All financial items are events on a calendar.

pocketsmith main page

You put in your weekly bills, rent, phone, your salary, into a web-based calendar. The application then forecasts what your cash position will be in the coming weeks and months. The predictions work based on the spending, saving, and cash decisions you make today. As you go, PocketSmith takes the events and generates a six or 12-month cash forecast, with a daily predicted balance.

What I like about PocketSmith is that they have kept it very simple. They offer a helpful FAQ section and blog posts help explain the newest features. Equally important for many people, they allow you to synchronize or export your data to Excel, and to your calendar in Outlook, Google, or iPhone.  You can get started quickly with their four main navigation tabs.

  • Forecast is where you set up your budget and forecast, and predict where you can be if you stick to your budget.  You’ll see where it says groceries clearly indicating a personal finances approach, but it doesn’t force you to keep their items.  You set your own.
  • Accounts is where you add your bank accounts and actual spending, ready for analysis. This is completely optional. You do not have to set up the bank account info like many services. You can start without it.
  • Compares allows you to compare how you have tracked against your forecast.
  • Goals lets you plan to buy the items that you need. Whether you are saving for a new printer, computer system, or new office location; PocketSmith can predict when you can achieve your goals and pay for them in cash.

Pocketsmith_Forecast

The only thing I didn’t like about the experience is a tiny point, but I didn’t prefer the testimonials section and would encourage them to make those believable. It was the only thing that made me question the service. A great quote by “Bobby” or “Stephanie” doesn’t cut it.

Who’s it for?

Again, it has been designed with the individual consumer in mind; however, small business owners and startups can easily use it to play “what if” scenarios against decisions made today. Small business owners could use this as a virtual, and very, very smart, financial controller.

PocketSmith is worth a serious try to help you with your cashflow today and future revenue predictions. They offer a free version, but the next level at $5/month is very reasonable.

Learn more about PocketSmith.

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69 Responses to “PocketSmith: Financial Forecasting for Small Business”

Leave a Reply
  1. Albioner says:
    November 9, 2009 at 11:14 pm

    Not ready for prime time. No repeating transactions (!). After I’ve entered a few test transactions, trying to select the entire month gives an error message stating that my range is outside the range of my existing transactions(!!). Nice UI though. Oh well.

  2. TJ McCue says:
    November 10, 2009 at 12:07 am

    @Albioner – thanks for the heads up. I didn’t encounter that in my testing, but it was a few weeks ago. We just posted, so let’s give a few hours and see if someone from Pocketsmith chimes in and sorts that out for you.

  3. Martin Lindeskog says:
    November 10, 2009 at 4:54 am

    TJ: Interesting to read about all these nifty programs popping up. I think we will see more of this kind of mash-up programs in the future.

  4. iphone 3g accessories says:
    November 10, 2009 at 5:50 am

    Forecast is where you set up your budget and forecast, and predict where you can be if you stick to your budget.You will see where it says groceries clearly indicating a personal finances approach, but it does not force you to keep their items.

  5. Joel Libava says:
    November 10, 2009 at 9:40 am

    TJ,
    Great pocket review.. This looks like a great tool..Maybe I will have my prospective franchise candidates look at it.

    The Franchise King
    Joel Libava

  6. RedHotFranchises says:
    November 10, 2009 at 12:27 pm

    Liquidity of a business is determined by its cashflow. The cash flow of a business determines its capacity to make certain business decisions. Hence, its importance in business planning.

  7. Jason Leong says:
    November 10, 2009 at 3:04 pm

    @Albioner, thanks for trying our application! Sounds like you’re loading up manual transactions (which don’t repeat) rather than putting forecast events into the Forecast calendar.

    Click on the Forecast tab and go from there – if you need any more assistance, drop us a line via http://www.pocketsmith.com/contact and we’ll be happy to point you in the right direction!

  8. Phil Os says:
    November 10, 2009 at 7:45 pm

    Nice work Jason, i knew there was a reason I smell awesomeness around you guys and pocketsmith! Overdue for a catch-up (my bad_ i know there is always an open invitation)…

    Go co-create and keep those whuffie deposits rolling in!
    Not sure what the exchange rate is but it does transform into currency

    Talk soon

    Phil



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